As regions across the U.S. continue plowing ahead with Let's Pretend COVID-19 Doesn't Exist campaigns, a new study shows how millions of cases may have gone entirely undiagnosed back in March.
PerCNN, researchers said via the Science Translational Medicine journal that as many as 8.7 million Americans had COVID-19 in March, though the vast majority—more than 80 percent—were never diagnosed. When introducing the research, authors pointed to the potential benefits of such a study, particularly amid ongoing denial of the virus from those who could help make a difference. Confirmed cases, researchers explain, are believed to be "underestimates of true prevalence" due to multiple factors.
The study includes data on how many people visited doctors or health clinics with influenza-like illnesses that were not met with a diagnosis of influenza, COVID-19, or other viruses known to be common during the winter months. In March, researchers spotted a massive jump in the number of those instances. This, researchers say, supports a scenario in which "more than 8.7 million new SARS-CoV-2 infections appeared in the U.S. during March."
As mentioned above, more than 80 percent of those cases were never identified even as the pandemic started taking shape across the U.S.
As it stands now, the CDC's stats on the virus show the total case count soon passing 2.3 million with nearly 120,000 deaths. This week, Florida became the latest state to surpass 100,000 total cases. The Trump administration, meanwhile, continues to downplay virus concerns in the name of shit like campaign rallies and whatnot.
